Laminated insole



Feb. 28, 1956 w. M. SCHOLL LAMINATED INSOLE Filed June 6, 1951 10 [HzE17 fur fill /Z4772 17/. Sca/Z -a [@f United States Patent O LAMINATEDINSOLE William M. Scholl, (Ihicago, Ill. 2

Application June 6, 1951, Serial No. 230,216

1 Claim. or. 36-44) This invention relates to improvements in alaminated insole, and more particularly to an insole for freedisposition in an article of footwear such as a shoe, boot, or the like,and which may be removed and reinserted whenever desired, although theinvention may have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to oneskilled in the art.

In the past, many and various types of insoles for free disposition inan article of footwear have been developed, but in no instance of whichI am aware has a laminated insole been produced, and particularly one ofcushioning material, wherein a heat reflecting medium was employed as anintermediate lamination. Consequently, insoles as heretofore made werenot as cushioning, as flexible, and as both heat and moisture insulatingas may be desired.

With this in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention toprovide a laminated insole embodying an intermediate lamination ofmetallic foil.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a laminated insoleembodying an intermediate lamination of relatively thin flexible butheat reflecting material.

Still a further feature of the invention resides in the provision oflaminated insoles in which the intermediate lamination is both heatreflecting and moisture impervious, and which insoles areinterchangeable from one shoe to another by inverting them.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a laminatedinsole which is interchangeable by inversion from one shoe to another,and which is substantially identical in appearance and structure on bothfaces.

It is another feature of the invention to provide a laminated insole soconstructed that heat from the ground passing through the shoe sole isreflected back toward the ground and away from the foot, while heat fromthe foot may be reflected back toward the foot.

Still another feature of the insole of this invention is the provisionof a laminated insole so constructed that certain laminations thereofmay be made from material heretofore found unstable for this purpose,and by virtue of the construction of the insole, such material is keptstable to function indefinitely in an insole.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantagesof the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will becomeapparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of an insoleembodying features of the instant invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view takensubstantially as indicated by the line I'I-II of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a plan view of an insole embodying principles of the instantinvention, but made of different material as to certain laminations fromthe insole seen in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view takensubstantially as indicated by the line IVIV of Fig. 3.

As shown on the drawings:

2,736,109 Patented Feb. 28,

In that illustrated embodiment of the instant invention seen in Figs. 1and 2, there is shown an insole of substanti-ally the same thicknessthroughout and of a size to fit beneath the entire plantar surface of ahuman foot. While it is not essential that an insole constructed inaccordance with this invention be of such size, and while it is notessential that it does not vary in thickness but may employ suitableelevations for supporting the respective arches of the foot, it ispreferable to have the insole of that particular size and structure ifthe moisture impervious and heatreflecting qualities are to be preservedto the best advantage.

This embodiment of the invention comprises an insole made of a pluralityof laminations, in the illustrated instance there being three suchl'aminations. The top lamination 1 comprises a relatively thick sheet 2of foam latex having a relatively smooth and thinner fabric coveringsheet 3 vulcanized or equivalently secured thereto. The lowerlamination, generally indicated by numeral 4, is of the sameconstruction as the top lamination and includes a sheet of foam latex 5and a similar fabric covering 6.

Between the two composite laminations 1 and 4 is an intermediatelamination 7 of heat reflecting and moisture impervious material. Asatisfactory material for this lamination is metal foil.

Of course, the upper and lower laminations may be cemented, if sodesired, to the upper and lower faces of the intermediate imperviouslamination 7 by any suitable form of cementitious material. Likewise, inthe case of foam rubber contacting an intermediate metallic lamination avulcanizing process is satisfactory. In the illustrated instance I haveshown aline of stitching 8 extending entirely around the marginalportion of the insole to hold the laminations together, and thisstitching is applied in such a manner as not to detract from themoistureproof quality of the insole, whenever that moistureproof qualityis mainly desired. The stitching may or may not be used along withacementitious material, but obyiouslythe stitching is not necessary inthe case of vulcanization.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a laminated insole made of differentmaterial insofar as the upper and lower laminations are concerned. Inthis instance, upper and lower laminations 9 and 10 are alike inmaterial and thickness, and are made of relatively thick felt-likematerial. The intermediate lamination may be of the same character asthe lamination 7 above described, and the laminations may be cemented tothe intermediate lamination if so desired, or the aforesaid line ofstitching 8 may be employed singly or along with the cementitiousmaterial as deemed most desirable.

It will be noted that in both the illustrated instances the insoles areof a cushioning character, aflording shock absorbing relief to the footduring walking.

The materials selected for illustrative purposes are not the onlymaterials from which a satisfactory insole embodying the advantages ofthe instant invention may be made. Other materials, by way of exampleand not by way of limitation, could be cotton felt, or cotton in variousother forms, natural or synthetic fibers, thermoplastic or thermosettingplastic materials, either sponge or foam rubber, cork, cork associatedwith a suitable binder, etc. The intermediate lamination, whilepreferably metallic foil, might also be made of certain thermoplastic orthermosetting plastic material.

Some of the advantages of the instant invention include the following:

When the insole is in use, the foot remains warm, due to the fact thatthe heat reflecting intermediate lamination 7 will reflect back towardthe foot some of the heat given 01f by the foot.

In hot weather, or when in use over heated surfaces, the foot tends toremain cooler, because the excessive heat emanating from the ground orheated surface is reflected away from the foot 'by'the bottom surface ofthe intermediate lamination.

Should moisture enter through the bottom of the article of footwear, theimpervious character of the intermediate lamination permits only thelamination or laminations therebelowto'become wetted, maintainingthefoot dry.

By the same token, should the upper portion of the insole become wettedby moisture exuding from the foot, a dry surface for that foot canreadily be provided by removing both insoles from the shoes, invertingthem, and placing them in opposite shoes from their previousdisposition.

The top and bottom laminations may be made of material which ordinarilywould be unstable if used as an insole for a shoe or the like, and theintermediate lamination 7 will keep such material stable, especiallywith respect to size.

Also, the insoles may be made from extremely soft and pliable materialwherein the intermediate lamination 7 will maintain that materialresistant to wrinkling.

In addition, should friction occur between a small localized area of theplantar surface of the foot and an insole, such friction produces heatand 'tends to bring about an uncomfortable burning sensation to theuser. While the particular insole will not prevent such an occurrence,yet the intermediate lamination 7, especially if made of metallic foil,will tend to transfer a noticeable amount of that heat away from thelocalized area, and thus reduce the uncomfortable burning sensationaccordingly.

It will be especially noted, that the instant invention may be veryeconomically manufactured, is exceptionally long lived, and renderedmore comfortable to the user by virtue of its identical appearance oneach side, whereby it may be used in either shoe.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be eifectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

A reversible insole for free disposition in an article of footwearcomprising a ball portion, a shank portion and a heel portion, saidball, shank and heel portions consisting of a thin sheet-form membermade of metal foil providing continuous upper and lower moistureimpervious, heat reflective surfaces, a top cushioning member made of alayer of foam latex coextensive in area with said metal sheet-formmember and being relatively thick with respect to said metal sheet-formmember to provide a top shock absorber'on 'o'rieside of saidmetalsheet-form member, a bottom cushioning member made of a layer of foamlatex coextensive in area with said metal sheet-form member and being ofidentical thickness with said top cushioning member to provide a bottomshock absorber on the opposite side of said metal sheet-form member,means securing said sheet-form member and said top and bottom cushioningmembers in a unitary laminar assembly with said sheet-form memberdisposed intermediate said top and bottom cushioning members and saidmembers together forming said ball'portion, said shank portion and saidheel portion of the reversible insole, and a pair of top and bottomsmooth fabric covering members relatively thin with respect to saidcushioning members and being coextensive in area therewith fastened onthe outside of said top and bottom cushioning members, respectively, toprovide identical reversible surfaces on the top and bottom sides of theball portion, shank portion and heel portion of the reversible insolefor engaging the foot of a user, or upon reversal, for engaging theinsole of an article of foot wear.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS113,773 Johnson Apr. 18, 1871 21.9,484 Kanouse Sept. 9, 1879 445,312French Jan. 27, 1891 1,208,209 Prince Dec. 12, 1916 1,704,187 Glidden etal Mar. 5, 1929 1,807,341 Messler May 26, 1931 2,276,949 Everston Mar.17, 1942 2,284,947 Clifford June 2, 1942 2,348,336 Everston May 9, 19442,383,122 Ghez et al Aug. 21, 1945 2,502,774 Alianiello Apr. 4, 19502,552,601 Supple May 15, 1951 2,563,092 Zacks Aug. 7, 1951 2,641,068Thompson June 9, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 525 Great Britain Feb. 3, 18828,943 Great Britain Feb. 25, 1904 349,208 Great Britain May 28, 1931519,411 Germany Feb. 27, 1931 705,294 France Mar. 3, 1931

